Through Memories and Fallacies
by SyntheticAngel0813
Summary: They were reborn. Only a few still have their memories.  How would you feel when the one who meant the most to you is without his?  When you aren't accustomed to having a heart, it hurts even more as it breaks into a million pieces.


Through Memories and Fallacies

Chapter 1

**Many centuries after the worlds were saved, the heroes were reborn.**

In a quiet house, the small, reborn hero was dreaming of what he could only guess was his old life. He had been having these dreams for quite a while now. They confused him at first, but soon he learned to accept them and come to love them. Riku, his best friend in real life and in his dreams, had told him they were just memories from a past life. He also said that he had them too, but to not let them interfere with this life.

_In his dream world, he was standing at the beach on his island, looking out into the endless sea. He could hear his friends playing in the background, but they were not the ones standing close to him. Kairi and Riku were playing a few feet out, relaxing for the first time since their adventures. Dream Riku turned and waved for the brunette to join them, his aqua eyes shining, completely void of darkness. This was one of his favorite dreams._

"Sora! Seriously, you need to wake up!" The voice of his twin's voice broke him from his dream. Before he could react, the wake up rant continued, "C'mon, you know we can't be late for school again! Leon, I mean "Mr. Leonhart"… Freaking bastard… will kill us if we're late again." The blonde boy grabbed the center of his brother's blanket and yanked it off of the half conscious hero. With a grunt, the groggy brunette finally rolled out of bed and landed with a 'thump'. This was an almost every day routine. Sora really hated mornings, they just always came so early!

"Owie…" Sora sleepily muttered, slowly rubbing his eyes trying to wake himself up. "Roxie…" He whined, "Why does school have to be so early? Shouldn't it be illegal or something?" Roxas could not help but smile at the boy. Even after everything that happened to him in the past, the brunette was still so cute and naïve. It was simply Sora. That was why Roxas didn't even mind having to pretty much baby sit him 24/7.

Roxas truly loved his brother. He had lived looking through his eyes for an entire lifetime, so it's only natural for their bond to be so strong. He knew that his brother remembered a little of their old life, but not much. This is how Roxas wanted to keep it. His brother had to suffer so much pain and loss in the last life. It would just be too unfair if he had to live this life with those feelings of helplessness. Roxas just wanted Sora to be happy, even if it meant that he had to carry every bad memory that Sora ever had.

Roxas pulled Sora off the ground, "It should be, bro, but we all know that mind control is most effective in the morning." When his brother started to laugh, the blonde allowed himself the privilege as well. They quickly got ready for school, fed themselves, and headed out for Radiant High.

As they entered the school gates, they were soon greeted by their friends. Sora was a very popular boy. Honestly, how could someone not want to befriend the most enthusiastic and optimistic person on the face of the planet?

Sora caught a glimpse of silver hair from the corner of his eye. Before anyone could blink, he had disappeared from his brother's side and practically materialized on top of his moody best friend. No one other than Roxas could understand their life long friendship. As much as he disliked the silverette, he knew that it made Sora happy. Oh, Riku had tried to avoid it, being antisocial and everything even as a grade schooler, but after a 'talk' from Roxas he decided it would be better to talk to the blue eyed boy than to ignore him. Roxas laughed, he could still remember the day Sora came home crying because "the gray haired boy doesn't like me." Yes, Riku got quite a scare from the younger Roxas.

He smiled to himself as he watched Sora attacking his friend. The irritated glare on Riku's face was softened when he saw the brunette laughing on top of him. When the bell rang, Roxas had to yell at them to go to class. With waves and hugs goodbye, the gang made their way to their classes.

Sora basically skipped to his seat. He was a rare breed, one that actually enjoyed Monday mornings after he got over his initial wake up. With a plop, he sat down in his seat next to his friend, Cloud. Even though he was moodier than Riku when he was having a good day, Sora was very glad he had befriended this quiet, blonde haired boy. Plus, Sora kind of remembered the two of them being friends in his last life. He certainly did not want to mess up a good friendship!

"Good morning, Sora." Cloud quietly greeted. Sora could not help but beam.

"Good morning, Cloud! How was your weekend?" Cloud talked about going to the movies with some of his old friends that he seldom saw. He talked about how hyper Yuffie was. "I honestly do not know how her heart can take all of that caffeine." The blonde muttered. The conversation also included many people that Sora remembered being part of a committee of sorts. Sora told him how proud he was reaching out and opening up more. He made Cloud tell him every single detail about it until Mr. Leonhart came in. Sora just grinned at him.

"Good morning, class. To start things off today, I would like to introduce you to your new classmate. Axel Kaen, please come in." After the teacher spoke, a tall, skinny, red headed boy made his way into the room. The boy muttered a quiet 'hello' before the teacher sent him to his seat on the other side of Sora. Leonhart was not one to force a new student to tell everyone every detail about his life.

For once in his life, Sora was silent. He felt as if... No, he knew that he had met this red-head before, but could not remember for the life of him. Quickly snapping out of his daze, Sora happily chatted with him for a while. He learned that Axel was from Twilight Town. He loved it there, but he was quite happy his mother had moved them to Radiant Garden. It was a bigger city, so it had more to offer him.

Suddenly, Sora had a wave of recognition wash over him. "Holy… Do you know a boy named Roxas?" This question was asked so quickly and with such urgency that all Axel could do was shake his head. Sora visibly relaxed. "Good. I can still hope that That Axel doesn't exist then." A red eyebrow was raised at the boy, but he did not press the mater further. When the bell rang, they discovered that they shared their next class together, as well, and also had it with Riku.

When they walked into class, Riku's hand was raised to wave at Sora, but it quickly dropped when his eyes rested on Sora's companion. He recognized that mop of red hair instantly.

"Riku!" Sora chimed, lunging himself at his friend, "I made a new friend in class today! This is Axel. Axel, this is Riku/ He's my bestiest, best friend in the whole wide world!" Axel laughed as he watched Riku try to pry the overly hyper brunette off of him. He definitely liked it here.

Finally, lunch time rolled around. This was the time when they meet up with Roxas for the first time during the day. Sora hated being away from his twin for so long. Thankfully, they had classes together for the rest of the day.

"Roxie!" Sora nearly screamed as he entered the cafeteria. As usual, his brother was waiting on the pair patiently at their normal table. Not bothering to look up from his book, the blonde just laughed at his brother. This was just another normal day for the hyper brunette. "I found a new friend today!" He seemed very proud of himself.

"Sora, you 'find' a puppy. You 'meet' a new friend, and isn't this the third poor soul you've dragged to our table this week?" Sora just grumbled something about it only being the second, and he pouted. Riku and Sora's new friend just laughed at him. He really was too adorable for his own good.

Roxas's heart skipped a beat, a feeling he still was not used to, at the sound of the stranger's laugh. He knew that laugh all too well.

"A... Axel?" He all but choked out, his book hitting the table completely forgotten.

Piercing green eyes met his gaze, a smirk planted firmly on his face, "That's my name kid. You must be the great Roxas that the o'pouty one here has been telling me about all day. I must say, it's an honor to meet you by this point. The kid really idolizes you." No words came to Roxas. All he could do was stare. There was no mistaking it, this was Axel. The same Axel he left standing in the streets of The World That Never Was. The same Axel he had forgotten and betrayed, the Axel that plagued his dreams and allowed him no rest. How had this happened? He had seen the red head die in a portal between worlds. How could he possibly have managed to make it to the next life?

A hand waved in front of his paled face. "Roxie? You okay?" Came the concerned voice of his brother. Wearily, he managed a yes. "Whew. You had us worried there. You really zoned out." After apologizing, everything went back to normal, at least back to their standards of normal. Sora just laughed and called Roxas weird. Riku stared at him with an understanding that reminded the blonde that this wasn't just his imagination. Even Axel smiled and joined in the fun.

"He was just so caught off guard by my sexiness that it left him speechless." Sora nodded, completely agreeing with the shenanigans. The two merrily chatted, ignoring the other two table occupants momentarily.

Riku tapped Roxas on the forehead. "Are you sure you're okay?" This simple question earned him quite a scary glare. "What do you think, Riku? Do you honestly think I'm okay? He doesn't even remember!" The raised voice caught the others' attention before Riku could respond.

"Remember what?" Axel questioned, curious of what he had missed. Not missing a beat, Riku responded. "Oh, we were just talking about Organization XIII. Ever heard of them?" Axel shook his head, "No, must be a local band or something. Sorry." Somehow, the teen played his question off without raising suspicion from the other. Again, Roxas's mind wondered off.

'He doesn't remember!' He screamed in his mind over and over. 'He doesn't remember me!' His fragile heart felt like it had just shattered. Slowly, he rose from his seat, muttered a goodbye to his brother, and left the cafeteria.

Sora watched his brother's retreating form, an aching feeling started in his chest. A glance at Riku's twisted and concerned features confirmed his fears. His head hit the table a little too roughly.

"No offense Sora, but your brother is weird." Axel stated simply after that younger boy had left. From his face planted position, Sora managed to reply with a "He's just hurt." Axel almost questioned it, but a look from Riku's calculating eyes made him decide against it.


End file.
